Immigrants Raise Call For Right to Be Voters

By RACHEL L. SWARNS

Published: August 9, 2004

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8—
For months, the would-be revolutionaries plotted strategy and lobbied local politicians here with the age-old plea, ''No taxation without representation!'' Last month, some of the unlikely insurgents -- Ethiopian-born restaurateurs, travel agents and real estate developers in sober business suits -- declared that victory finally seemed within reach.

Five City Council members announced their support for a bill that would allow thousands of immigrants to vote in local elections here, placing the nation's capital among a handful of cities across the country in the forefront of efforts to offer voting rights to noncitizens.

''It will happen,'' said Tamrat Medhin, a civic activist from Ethiopia who lives here. ''Don't you believe that if people are working in the community and paying taxes, don't you agree that they deserve the opportunity to vote?''

Calling for ''democracy for all,'' immigrants are increasingly pressing for the right to vote in municipal elections. In Washington, the proposed bill, introduced in July, would allow permanent residents to vote for the mayor and members of the school board and City Council.

In San Francisco, voters will decide in November whether to allow noncitizens -- including illegal immigrants -- to vote in school board elections. Efforts to expand the franchise to noncitizens are also bubbling up in New York, Connecticut and elsewhere. Several cities, including Chicago, and towns like Takoma Park, Md., already allow noncitizens to vote in municipal or school elections.

But in most cities, voting remains a right reserved for citizens, and the prospects for the initiatives in Washington and San Francisco remain uncertain. The proposals have inspired fierce opposition from critics who say the laws would undermine the value of American citizenship and raise security concerns in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Washington's mayor, Anthony Williams, has expressed his support for extending voting rights to permanent residents, but has yet to garner a majority of supporters on the 13-member City Council. In San Francisco, critics have questioned whether the law would violate the state's Constitution.

In this city, where Ethiopian restaurants and El Salvadoran travel agents dot many urban streets, advocates argue that permanent residents are paying taxes and fighting and dying for the United States as soldiers in Iraq while lacking a voice in local government. They describe the ban on immigrant voting as akin to the kind of taxation without representation that was a major cause of the American Revolution.

They also note that the United States has a long history of allowing noncitizens to vote. Twenty-two states and federal territories at various times allowed noncitizens to vote -- even as blacks and women were barred from the ballot box -- in the 1800's and 1900's.

Concerns about the radicalism of immigrants arriving from southern and Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led states to restrict such voting rights. By 1928, voting at every level had been restricted to United States citizens. Today, some argue, those rights should be restored to noncitizens.

''They're paying taxes, they're working, they're contributing to our prosperity,'' said Jim Graham, the councilman who introduced the bill here. ''And yet they're not able to exercise the franchise.

''This is part of our history. A lot of people don't know what the history of this nation is in terms of immigrant voting; they don't understand even that localities can determine this issue. It's a very healthy discussion.''

Critics counter that the proposed laws would make citizenship irrelevant and pledges of allegiance to the United States meaningless. It is a touchy political issue, particularly in an election year when many politicians across party lines are lobbying for support from Hispanic voters, and many politicians have tried to sidestep it altogether.

Democrats have most often sponsored the initiatives, but some also oppose them. In Washington, where Congress has the right to override city laws, some Republicans said they would try to overturn the immigrant voting bill if it passed.

''Is it really too much to ask that American citizenship be a prerequisite for voting in American elections?'' Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, asked in a letter to members of Congress last month.

''One of the things that differentiates American citizenship from simple residency is the right to vote,'' said Mr. Tancredo, who rallied opposition to the bill. ''The passage of this measure would not only blur that distinction, it would erase it -- allowing as many as 40,000 aliens in the District of Columbia to vote.''

In San Francisco, some critics have also argued that the proposals raise security concerns. Louise Renne, a former city attorney in San Francisco and a longtime critic of the concept, recently raised the question of whether terrorists would soon be allowed access to the polls. "If noncitizens can vote,'' she asked reporters, ''can Osama bin Laden vote in a school election?"

Advocates for noncitizen voting rights dismiss concerns about threats to national security, noting that several countries, including Belgium and Ireland, allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. New Zealand allows permanent residents to vote in local and national elections.

They argue that immigrants will still aspire to citizenship because it is the only way they can vote in federal elections. And having the right to vote, they argue, will help noncitizens feel more politically engaged and committed to this country.

''A lot of communities are not represented by representatives who reflect the diversity in their communities and are responsive to their needs,'' said Ron Hayduk, a professor of political science at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and an advocate for immigrant voting rights. ''It raises basic fundamental questions about democracy.''

In Washington, Connie Mann, a 44-year-old permanent resident from Namibia, is already dreaming of voting for the mayor. Sergio Luna of Guatemala, a community outreach specialist for the city, hopes to improve this city's struggling schools, where his son is a student. ''If we have the opportunity to vote for the school board, the Council and the mayor, we'll be making some changes,'' he said.

Mr. Graham, who was applauded by his Ethiopian supporters last week for introducing the voting legislation here, says he believes the bill will become law, even if it not this year. He says he needs the support of only two more members of the Council and is working to woo them, even if that means reintroducing the legislation next year. Lobbying Congress, he said, would be the next step. ''This is not a 50-yard dash issue,'' he said. ''This is an issue you just have to keep working on.''

Photo: Jim Graham, right, a Washington city councilman, and Tamrat Medhin, a civic activist, support voting rights for noncitizens. (Photo by Jay Talbott for The New York Times)

Correction: August 19, 2004, Thursday An article on Aug. 9 about a movement by immigrants across the United States to win the right to vote in municipal elections referred incorrectly to a comment from Louise Renne, a former city attorney in San Francisco and longtime critic of the concept, who asked, ''If noncitizens can vote, can Osama bin Laden vote in a school election?'' Ms. Renne asked the rhetorical question in an interview with a reporter from The San Francisco Chronicle. She was not talking to ''reporters.''